daddy teaches harrison how to play basketball...

reagan's first solo...

four years old...

it's really hard to believe that the little baby we brought home from the hospital turned four today. when i see the picture above i see a boy... no longer a baby or even toddler.

on daddy baby day (monday) we bought a rocket with the intention of launching it on his birthday (today). i worked on it all night and i think it looked pretty good... it just didn't work properly. sure it launched... but the shoot never popped out. it was more like a javelin. the great thing about being four years old is that small details don't matter. he never knew there was supposed to be a colorful parachute.

in total we launched it four times... it stuck in the ground like an arrow every time. BUT, it didn't break and still looks great.

we have our last two "daddy baby days" this month... then i have to share him with preschool in the fall. my heart hurts just thinking about it. we have maximized mondays... so my heart is full and i can go to the next stage knowing that i gave him my best. all my creativity and energy went into giving him experiences on those days together.

here's the deal. i work with middle school kids, so i know what's coming. one day he will be unimpressed with my "rocket" craftsmanship and efforts to spend time with him. in the not to distant future he will think everything i do is stupid and embarrassing. so, i savor today.

reagan, your daddy loves you. being a father to you and harrison is the most fulfilling responsibility i've ever had. happy birthday gunner.

daddy

flying pig...

well, it was a little less flying and a little more pig.

my time was 2:54 and i ran the whole way. my legs are too stubby to keep up with the others so i did 12/13 of it on my own. by far, this was way more mentally challenging than physical.

at mile 7 some lady was giving out little cups of jelly beans. i can say with complete honesty that it saved the race for me. that energy boost those magic beans gave me was priceless. besides water and gatorade, she was the only person giving out stuff... and it was EXACTLY what i needed.

i think i may do it again next year... but, the jury is still out. i don't doubt that i can cut 20 minutes off my time if i pack a fanny pack of jelly beans.

milthaler

life on mars...

i was a fan of the show "life on mars". come to find out it has been canceled. in my search to find out the details... i came to find out that it was actually a rip off of the BBC show of the same name. http://tinyurl.com/26d3te

i think it's funny how some of the best shows of this decade have been rip offs of the BBC and others. it's true, there is nothing new under the sun.

i'll admit it... i have an affinity for ripping off others work. i was taught that it was the dirty little secret of youth ministry. but, it appears that it's the norm.

creativity takes space to think and create. all too often we don't have the time to create something new, so we steal.

milthaler

long live TALON...

more pics at milthaler.com/talon

volunteers...

over the last month i have had the privilege of working with diane adamec. diane is the definition of a high capacity volunteer. she spent her professional life as an organizing genus and has been "floating" around the student union giving me much needed feedback about our systems.

she asked me a question today that has rattled around in my brain. "are you able to identify and fully utilize your quality volunteers?" i like to think that i am, but as i think more about it... i'm not so sure.

in the church world (or any organization that utilizes volunteers) we are afraid to ask people to do "more" because we don't want to overload them or burn them out... but, i also have a hunch that if we simply asked we may find that people are ready and willing to give more.

more important, there are probably people that serve at the student union that have the professional capacity and know how to take neglected areas and make them great. may people don't feel passionate about their "day job" because they don't feel like they are changing the world... that is one of the reasons they serve in the first place. perhaps it's my fault for not giving them the chance to make a greater impact.

just to push the conversation a little further... why can't a paid staff member of a church have a volunteer as their boss? there are people out there who can manage an entire staff with a one hour meeting.

milthaler

bye, bye credit cards...

yesterday was a great day for the milthaler family. we paid off our last credit card and are on our way to paying off all our debts.

a few months ago we took a short vacation to the cabin our friends (scott and julie mcmiller) own in the hocking hills region. we both were totally consumed with the idea of purchasing our own cabin... and so the journey to put ourselves in a firm financial position to achieve this goal.

it's staggering to say, but over the past five months we have eliminated tens of thousands of dollars in debt... it's really amazing. i am embarrassed in one sense to share that we were so "out of control" but, on the other hand i want to provide hope and freedom to those of you that are stuck in this negative debt behavior. the actions that got us in the position we found ourselves weren't that untypical. we weren't gambling or living a lavish lifestyle... we just weren't living our wadge.

the sucky part is that i would like to redo our kitchen, update our furniture and start aggressively saving for college and the cabin, but we can't. the following statement is true... "debt steals from the future".

so how did we do it? the simple answer is that we spent less than we made and put what was left over on our debts... but there were some more keys:

1. we sat down and added up ALL of our debt. not just the high interest, or the stuff we thought we could never pay off... all of it went into excel.

2. we started dave ramsey's financial peace university. ramsey never said anything i didn't already know, but he gave tough fatherly advice that stuck in my brain.

3. we started to account for every penny that came in and out of our wallets. when we started our budget we were shocked at how little things add up.

4. we gave ourselves a fair amount of blow money. we didn't budget for eating out or simple stuff like that. no envelopes, just a monthly or weekly allowance. it was a decent amount, so it gave us freedom. i think this was a big key to our success.

5. whenever we got free money, like royalties or supplementals we put them toward the debt. we started paying on the smallest and then rolling the money to the next smallest when it was paid off.

then something awesome happened, god started to bless us like never before. in a way, i think he was waiting for us to get our act together so we wouldn't misuse the resources that are ultimately his.

we still have a long way to go, but i am more confident than ever that we will get there.

twitter (contd)...

bshawise said...
twitter (to me) just seems extremely vain. i have a hard time understanding why people want to alert everyone that they just ate chicken and watched a movie. help me understand the merits of this "communication tool."

it is vain to think that people actually care about what you are having for dinner... but, the same argument could be made about publishing one's ideas in a blog. but, that is the beauty of both... they are unforced communication.

in the 80's it was your money... but, today our most valuable currency is time. how you spend your time shows your priorities. this is what gives twitter value, being able to communicate your values.

comings and goings don't contribute to the "conversation" and if that is all you do, you won't have many "followers". but, commentary with the occasional status update is engaging. for instance, joe boyd is able to communicate reset information while personalizing it with the fact he is at a coffee shop working on his talk. personally, i have found updates to be micro blogs. chances are i won't read anyones complete blog entries, but the limit of 140 characters challenges the communicator to get to the point quick.

mega stars are able to use this communication to "connect" with their fans. shaq recently "tweeted" that he had two tickets to that nights game for anyone who could meet him at a specific location first. it's a cheep gimic... but, undeniably interesting.

for the church world, we should learn something from the obama campaign. we live in a new communication world. twitter gives you the chance to communicate in an authentic and personal way. twitter is not a social networking site (the distinguishing factor between twitter and facebook). people have to look for you to "follow" your communication. this is important because you are attracting people who want to hear from you... again, it's the beauty of unforced communication. and, adapting early to communication gives you the opportunity to communicate with early adaptors who tend to be influencers.

that's way more than 2 cents so i'll stop. feel free to follow me on twitter.

milthaler

twitter...

hey all... i'm giving twitter another chance. you can follow me by clicking on the link to the right. i would also love to hear how you are using this as a communication mode.

milthaler

i'm a paleontologist...

cabin pics...

just in case you're not on facebook... here is another link to the pictures.

copyright...

this is very interesting story for "creative types"

nytimes story

see my pictures from this past weekend.

ice storm...

we were supposed to head to the cabin this weekend as a family, but the power went out all over logan county. instead, it was just scott and me. we kept enough heat in the cabin to keep the pipes from exploding and roughed it. well sort of, this was dinner on friday night...

on saturday morning, we hiked "old man's cave". besides the fact that ice made everything as "slick as snot on a door knob" the sights were beautiful.

you can see all my pics here.

milthaler

transfer of power...

today was a very memorable and meaningful day in history. the most powerful leadership position in history was peacefully passed from one to another. when you think about it... that is a beautiful thing.

i was shocked when bw3s became totally quiet as everyone paused to listen to the speech. the facebook / cnn coverage fully integrated the power of the internet. as someone who is giving his life to empower students to live a life of service, i'm greatly encouraged. the unity today rivals that of 9|11 and that energy was not fueled by anger and a need for revenge, amazing.

no matter your political persuasion... you can't escape the significance of today.

milthaler

mother-in-law...

i thought obama was intending to do away with torture... never the less, his mother-in-law is moving into the white house with him. freeloader. they say that behind every great man there is a surprised mother-in-law.

on thursday, hope had to leave for a work conference in columbus. my mother-in-law comes to our house four days a week to watch our boys. she is the reason that reagan is so verbal and smart... he had focused one on one time with mamaw before harrison came. she won't take money and doesn't know how to use gas gift cards.

i don't know if it's because she thinks i'm incompetent... but, when i came home on thursday the house was sparkling and dinner was on the stove. friday's dinner was comparable to thanksgiving. when i got into the freezer to get ice for the iced tea she made... i saw the bag of pizza rolls and laughed out loud.

i miss hope... but...

paradigm...

it's perhaps the most overused business word of the 90's but i've not experienced a true paradigm shift in a long time. www.swoopo.com is a true expression of the word.

i'll have to credit alton "hugs" alexander for showing me this revolution in recreational internet auctions... it's pure genius. when you mix the the thrill of bidding with the drug of cheap prices you get this new gambling/auction site. check it out... but realize it's a mirage.

we had a staff meeting today where i showed this site to the "kids" i lead. they kept trying to compare it to ebay... and it was so fun watching their faces as they tried to do the math.

it's interesting that we try to categorize everything we see with something we've already experienced. we tend to frame everything with familiarity. what's even more hilarious is that when something doesn't fit our limited experience we get angry and discount it immediately. mix that with the inability to do math... well, you've got swoopp.com.

milthaler

justanswer.com...

so, i'm having trouble with my passat. i've changed the thermostat twice and still no luck. i googled troubleshooting problems with volkswagen and stumbled on to this site.

you pay $9 for a certified mechanic to troubleshoot your problem. you message back and forth trying different things... so far we're on step two. then, when i am satisfied... i send him (or her) the held money on my credit card. it's genius.

here is an example of the last post...

Ok, so you need to remove the coolant hose at the top of the coolant bottle (it's the small one) and hold it over the open bottle, have a friend start the car and hold the RPM at 2000 while you observe for flow out of that hose.

Also feel both of the heater core hoses near the battery (you'll need to remove the plastic trim there) and see if either one of them is hot. Are both the radiator hoses hot? Any check engine light.

Please be sure to answer all the questions I've asked as it will help me greatly in figuring out what is wrong with your car.

Danny

it's like having a real mechanic friend... ohhhh, i just felt icky. i'm paying for it.

milthaler